[Poor Old Left]
When I started dance, I took mostly ballet classes with a few modern, tap, flamenco, and jazz classes on the side. But ballet was six days a week Monday through Saturday and I was GOOD.
Then I went to undergrad at the University of Southern Mississippi and while I was still damn good at ballet, it became OBVIOUS how much I sucked at EVERYTHING ELSE.
While the program required ballet and modern, pretty much all other dance forms were optional including JAZZ.
And I SUCKED.
But first the news:
- Calls grow for facemasks in all Dutch public space to stop coronavirus spreading
- CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS RISING; HOSPITAL CASES TICK UP BUT STABLE
- Rotterdam and Amsterdam mayors want face masks to be made mandatory
So why did I return to that jazz class year after year, semester after semester?
BECAUSE I SUCKED.
And the teacher was AMAZING.
She had a saying, everytime we did the second side and she knew it would suck – left is never as good as right – she’d lament, “Poor Old Left”
And we’d ATTACK it.
My left leg is NOT great these days.
The left knee is the first to complain. It’s not quite as strong as the right.
It IS more flexible, though.
But it’s always the one that I need to prop up at the end of the day so it’s not quite straight / locked. Sometimes I even have to ice it or take paracetamol.
And I always hear my jazz teacher lament, “Poor old left.”
I’m not eighteen anymore. I’m retired from dance. I’ve given birth to three kids. My full time job is mostly sitting on my butt. I’m struggling through perimenopause. Depression is not helpful.
But it’s time to ATTACK.